Cognitive functions and childhood traumas in panic disorder

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate neurocognitive function in patients with panic disorder (PD) in comparison with healthy individuals and to determine whether there was a relationship between neurocognitive function, childhood trauma, and clinical symptoms in PD patients. Method: A total of 31 healthy individuals and 26 patients with PD were included in this study. The Psychology Experiment Building Language (PEBL)-Berg Card Sorting Test (BCST), PEBL-Victoria Stroop Test (VST), PEBL-Connections Test (PCT), and PEBL-Corsi Block Test (PCBT) were used to evaluate neurocognitive function. Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAM-A), and a sociodemographic data form were administered to all of the patients. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition Severity Measure for PD Scale was used to assess the symptom severity of PD patients. Results: The PD patients had poorer BCST results in comparison with the healthy controls. The two groups had similar results on the VST, PCT, and PCBT. There was no statistically significant correlation between neurocognitive test scores and the CTQ and HAM-A scores in the PD group. Logistic regression analysis indicated that the diagnosis of PD was associated only with the total number of correct responses on the BCST subtests. Conclusion: The results demonstrated that PD patients may have impaired executive function, such as problem-solving, strategy determination, complex attention, and conceptualization, however executive function was not generally associated with childhood trauma or the severity of PD.